Lime mortar pointing work has remained a primary choice for various construction projects for the past millennium.
Of course, Lime mortar has some appreciative characteristics, including robustness, durability & cost-effectiveness, which makes it an oblivious choice.
Additionally, lime mortar pointing work can effectively enhance your home's appearance while ensuring environmental safety.
Why do we use Cement, then?
There are situations where curing time plays a crucial role. Curing ensures hydration of the Cement, which in turn enhances its strength and durability.
Cement mortar usually takes less curing time, allowing the structure to set, harden and develop traits.
To take advantage of there special properties, homemakers may use the two mortars as per the requirement.
Let's discuss different parameters to judge the performance of Cement and lime mortar.
Physical Properties
Lime mortar hardens much slower than its cement counterpart. This feature makes lime mortar a more feasible option. During hardening, the mortar continues to acquire strength, making it withstand weathering and ageing for a longer duration. So, more hardening time means more mortar durability.
On the other hand, Cement hardens quicker and may become too strong for some applications like fixing old brick joints.
The chances of crack and brittleness in Lime mortar are significantly low, while cement Mortar can easily receive cracks as a structure settles and eventually may require repair.
Vapour Barrier
Cement mortar does not allow water vapours to escape as it forms a waterproof barrier. As a result, the water is absorbed in the bricks and Cement causing moisture to amass in the wall joints. Basements are the most affected areas of your house.
While Lime Mortar serves as a better alternative, its breathable characteristics allow water vapours to pass through the wall joints, which eventually reduce the moisture keeping the home environment fresh.
Environmental Concerns
A big amount of carbon dioxide is released during cement mortar production, contributing to global warming. In contrast, Lime production absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over its lifetime.
Durability and Price
Lime mortar is used primarily for historical restoration work. However, it is softer than Cement. Due to this, it wears away over time, especially in acid rain.
Also quality Lime mortar is expensive in comparison to cement mortar.
While Portland cement-based mortar is more durable, it can withstand these obstacles and is more economical than lime mortar.
Conclusion
Lime mortar is better than its cement counterpart in roughly every aspect. With Lime Mortar, structures withstand weathering and ageing.
However, cement mortar is in common use due to its durability and pricing factor.
An ordinary concrete mortar between the stones may cause cracking, pitting and crumbling.
Carbon is produced in the production of both lime and Cement, but lime is better! As it soaks co2 from the environment throughout its lifespan.
The best option is to use a mix of both lime and cement to get benefit from their properties. Consider your best options with your mortar specialist.